Quotes on acronyms

What writers and others say

“I once watched my future wife (then colleague) disembowel a news release, striking through all the adverbs, adjectives and nonsense. When she was done, it was five sentences and a boilerplate. It was love at first write.”

“The world we live in is made up of shortcuts and acronyms — the Seattle PD, the U.S. of A., the U Dub, et cetera. The AG’s (see what I mean?) Special Homicide Investigation Team had barely opened its doors for business when people started shortening the name to something a little more manageable. And that’s where the SHIT hit the fan, so to speak. While everyone agrees the name is ‘regrettable”‘ and ‘unfortunate,’ no one in the state bureaucracy is willing to take the heat for rescinding that previously placed order for preprinted stationery, forms and business cards. So SHIT it was, and SHIT it remains.”

— J.P. Beaumont, a character in J.A. Jance’s Partner in Crime

“In the Olympics, they all talk in acronyms all the time. You spend most of the meeting trying to work out what the acronym meant. By the time you’ve done that it’s time for the next meeting.”

— Danny Boyle, director and producer, known for Slumdog Millionaire, who served as artistic director for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games

“I work with people who honestly believe that he who dies with the most acronyms wins.”

— State Farm administrator

Start making sense

Get the gobbledygook, jargon and gibberish out

Jargon. Buzzwords. Acronyms. They’re things that make your reader go “huh?” And we need to get them out of our message.

Indeed, jargon irritates your reader, makes your message less understandable, reduces your social media reach and influence, cuts your chances of media coverage, makes your website harder to find and demonstrates your lack of knowledge about the topic. It may even suggest that your company is in trouble.

Translate the language of your organization into the language of your readers.